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Oberth class
|operator = Starfleet Civilian |Type = Scout, science vessel, transport, supply ship |Active = 23rd century - 24th century |Decks = 13 |Crew = 80 (standard); 5 (minimal) |Armament = 2 Type 4 Phaser Arrays, 1 Probe/Photon torpedo Launcher |Defenses = Deflector shields |image2 = USS Grissom (aft).jpg |imagecap2 = Aft view }} The Oberth class was a small Federation starship used primarily by Starfleet and civilian scientists alike, as a scout class and science vessel, from the late-23rd to the late-24th century. History In service as early as the 2280s, the Oberth-class was designed and used almost exclusively for the study of astronomical phenomena, including data gathering missions on stars and planets, well into the 2360s. ( , ; ) By the latter half of the 2360s, these vessels would serve in a number of limited capacities, such as transports and supply ships. ( ) .]] In 2358, the Oberth-class served as a prototype for testing advanced starship technologies. The Pegasus was outfitted with an experimental engine and new weapon systems, some of which were used in the designs for starships. In addition to this, the Pegasus was the test bed for an illegal Federation cloaking device. ( ) The Federation continued to construct Oberth-class starships as late as 2363, at such locations as the USSR's Baikonur Cosmodrome. ( dedication plaque) The Oberth was present in several major Federation engagements including the Borg invasion of 2366-2367, where it participated at the Battle of Wolf 359, as well as the Battle of Sector 001 in 2373. ( ; ) The class would slowly be phased out of service during the 2370s, shortly after the introduction of the more advanced science vessel. ( ) Technical data The Oberth-class had an standard crew complement of eighty, but was capable of operating with a minimum crew complement of five. ( ; ) Physical arrangement The Oberth-class design was atypical among Federation starships of the time. The outboard plan of the Oberth s design incorporated a unique split hull design, with an upper primary hull that was composed mainly of the saucer section, which was mounted onto a rear extension that mounts the impulse drive, and warp drive nacelles to either side to the saucer. The secondary hull was connected to the primary hull at the nacelles by reinforced pylons. The secondary hull itself was oblong in shape. ( , etc.) In all, the Oberth contained thirteen decks. ( ) Design features of the secondary hull included a docking port located on the port side of the hull. ( ) Defensive systems More suited for science missions than combat missions, the Oberth-class had minimal defensive systems; it was armed with at least one phaser bank and one photon torpedo launcher for defense. ( , ) They were tactically inferior to such enemy vessels as the Klingon Bird-of-Prey and the Borg cube. ( ; ; ) As a science vessel, the Oberth-class was designed with specialized shields, which allow them to push through gravitational wavefronts. In conjunction with this feature, the interior bulkheads were composed of victurium alloy to better facilitate shielding. ( ) Auxiliary craft Oberth-class starships were equipped with escape pods, stowing a minimum compliment of two on board a vessel with a crew of five. These escape pods were capable of transporting at least nine personnel at once. ( ) Interior design Main bridge Located on Deck 1 of the saucer section, the bridge housed the ship's command center. In general, the Oberth-class had a fairly standard Federation starship floor plan. Located in the front was the viewscreen, with side-by-side navigator and helm consoles, which are in contrast positioned opposite to the arrangement found aboard starships. The captain's chair is directly aft of the aforementioned stations. At the rear of the bridge, was a single turbolift-entryway. The primary stations, which were located at either side of the captain's chair included a primary science station to port (pictured, below left) with secondary stations trailing along the wall towards the back of the bridge. Along the starboard side of the bridge was the communications station (pictured, below center). ( ) The bridge layout during the 24th century included an emergency hatch set in the bulkhead, which could be used to escape from the bridge, into space, during an emergency situation. ( ) File:USS Grissom bridge, forward port.jpg|Forward port section of the Grissom bridge. File:USS Grissom bridge, comm station.jpg|Communications station, located on the starboard section of the Grissom bridge. File:SS Tsiolkovsky bridge emergency hatch.jpg|With a blown emergency hatch. , altered only slightly to reflect the smaller size of the class. Among the more notable changes are the reupholstered chairs and the placement of center console.|The bridge of the Tsiokovsky was described simply as a "small bridge". The set was only a partial construction, containing a few chairs and consoles, dominated by the view of the open emergency hatch (pictured, above right).}} Corridors design.]] Because of its small size, many of the corridors doubled as auxiliary access points to various parts of the ship. The anteroom, just outside the bridge, was located at the end of a corridor. This section contained a viewscreen-monitor and the ship's dedication plaque. ( ) Main engineering .]] Engineering was located in the center of the ship, it was where the ship's power systems were controlled and home of the ship's antimatter warp drive chamber and impulse engine controls. ( ) Science and service sections The Oberth-class was equipped with numerous science labs dedicated to scientific study. One section, located on deck 4 in the saucer section, was a corridor-like chamber that contained a couple of science consoles and adjacent monitors against the wall. Access to the computer core could be interfaced via ODN junction located below the science consoles. The computer core itself was located on deck 13, inside the secondary hull. ( ) Another section, known as science ops, contained multiple computer consoles and a personnel transporter pad. ( ) Accommodations Crew quarters found aboard the Oberth-class were not unlike those found aboard other Federation starships. They included a main living area, with an attached bedroom and adjacent bathroom. ( ) File:SS Tsiolkovsky crew quarters1.jpg|View of main room from entryway File:SS Tsiolkovsky crew quarters2.jpg|View of main room from bedroom File:SS Tsiolkovsky bedroom.jpg|Bedroom (left) and adjacent bathroom entryway (right) Ships commissioned ;Named: * * (NCC-59318) * * (NCC-638) * (NCC-602) (prototype) * (NCC-53847) * (NCC-53911) * (NAR-18834) * (NCC-19002) ;Unnamed: * [[Unnamed Oberth class starships|Unnamed Oberth-class starships]] ;Uncertain: * (NCC-29487) * (NCC-1963) * (NCC-1692) Appendices Appearances * Star Trek films: ** ** ** ** * ** ** ** ** ** ** ** * Background Production sources dating back to Star Trek III established an overall length for the Oberth-class at 395 feet (120 meters), a length also adopted by Andrew Probert during the early production phase of TNG Season 1. http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/articles/excelsior/probert-sizechart.jpg According to the Star Trek Encyclopedia, the Oberth-class was named for , the "Father of German Rocketry." Studio model Design For , which was (tied with , seven each) until the Star Trek production that introduced the most new space faring designs at once, a unique approach to designing was adopted, not seen before or after in the Star Trek franchise. Instead of the traditional way of thinking out a design, devising a design, coming up with detailed drawings to be approved of by SFX supervisors and building models from blueprints, this time visual artists David Carson and Nilo Rodis-Jamero of Industrial Light & Magic produced their pre-visualization artwork and handed it over to model makers Steve Gawley, Bill George and their team to be translated into study models, in essence inviting them to use their own imagination to finish up on the design. Very much a collaborative effort, Carson later remembered,"We'd churn out quite a few sketches. Then the ones that were most promising we might polish up a little in color for presentation. It wasn't uncommon for me to do a drawing that would inspire Nilo, who would then turn it into his own drawing that would be much more impressive! He would often inspire me."(Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 3, Issue 8, page 48) Once turned over to the modelmakers the resulting study models were presented to producer Harve Bennett and/or director Leonard Nimoy for appraisal or as supervising modelmaker Gawley put it,"You had all these models sitting on a table so that the director could really get a feel for what we were talking about. It just made everything easier to understand, and insured that everybody was on the same page. It also made it easier to give cost estimates."(Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 3, Issue 8, page 20) Director of Photography Kenneth Ralston elaborated further,"From the beginning, once Nilo Rodis, one of the visual effects art directors, had done a sketch and they got an idea of what direction to go, the model people all built prototypes. The space dock had four or five small prototypes. The Bird of Prey, I think, had only two because we all knew this one design would work and we were selling that one. The Merchant Man and the ''Grissom also had several designs. When Leonard and Harve and Ralph Winter came to meetings we presented them with three dimensional models. It really is a lot better doing it that way because they can physically see how different angles would work."(American Cinematographer, August/September 1984, page 62) The ''Valiant study model One of the study models Ralston referred to was labeled as the Valiant, and was featured in the 2002 documentary, "Space Docks and Birds of Prey", disc 2 from the Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (Special Edition) DVD, already very close to the final design. File:Concept Model Valiant 2.jpg|''Valiant'' concept File:Valiant oberth temp.jpg|''Valiant'' overhead File:Oberth class at Veridian III.jpg| vessel assisting in the evacuation of personnel from Veridian III Photo documents reportedly taken around the time of the filming of of this Oberth-class model has led to some speculation that it was this model that was used in the evacuation scene of Veridian III. However, screencap analysis shows that the lay-out of the impulse deflector crystals as well as the lay-out of the impulse engine exhausts/transporter emitters on the nacelle deck does not correspond with the lay-out as shown on the study model. It is also highly unlikely that a study model was outfitted with an internal lighting system. It can therefore be surmised that it was in fact the original physical studio model, still wearing the decals. Physical studio models 's studio model at auction.]] The original studio model for the Oberth-class, built at ILM by Gawley's team, measured an overall length of 28". The model first appeared in Star Trek III as the , and was subsequently relabeled to represent other vessels of the class (the last time for as the , subsequent appearances shot in such a way that the decals could not be discerned). Very little further modification, save for some paint touch-ups (possibly to repair some minor damage after Jein took molds from it) was ever performed on the model besides relabeling. The last appearance of the model was in the Veridian III evacuation scene in . The model, still labeled as the USS Pegasus, was auctioned off as on 7 October 2006, being part of the 40 Years of Star Trek: The Collection auction. The estimate price for the model was $4,000 to $6,000; it sold for $18,000 ($21,600 with premium). The model was added to the ScienceFictionArchives.com collection. http://sciencefictionarchives.com/fr/objet/219/maquette-de-luss-grissom.htm?language=EN built at Gregory Jein Inc.]] A second physical model was later created by Gregory Jein for to depict the severely damaged . At the time considered too valuable to cut up the original ILM model for showcasing the damaged Vico, Jein took molds from the model and from them cast the parts to construct a new model. Co-worker Bruce MacRae helped out with detail construction and painting.http://www.jetcafe.org/bruce/portfolio/TV_Shows2/FrameSet.htm Jein later gave away the molds to John Eaves who actually used them to cast a solid resin model and had it gold-plated.http://johneaves.wordpress.com/2009/06/26/more-of-the-golden-starships/#comment-5293 It, along with other starship models, was intended for use as a display piece in the glass cabinets in the observation lounge of the in . However that fell through as Eaves delivered the models too late for use.http://johneaves.wordpress.com/2009/06/26/more-of-the-golden-starships/ As of 2009, the Vico model itself, having escaped the 40 Years of Star Trek: The Collection and It's A Wrap! sale and auction auctions, is still in the possession of Paramount Pictures and has been on tour displays such as Star Trek World Tour, Star Trek: The Exhibition and Star Trek: The Adventure as late as 2009. CGI model The last appearance of the Oberth-class was in in the Battle of Sector 001 scene. With the exception of the Borg cube, Borg sphere, the [[Unnamed Nebula class starships#Battle of Sector 001|unnamed Nebula-class starship]] and the all other ships were done as CGI models, including the at least three ''Oberth''-class starships. Never meant to be seen up close but rather as deep background elements, the model was built at ILM by modelers Larry Tan and Paul Theren at a fairly low resolution and at a low detail level. Noteworthy was that this was the first and only time that viewers could see an Oberth-class vessel discharge it weapons. Established as an older design, the model was never used again nor upgraded for later appearances and the class, with the exception of , has not been seen (though referenced to) in either Star Trek: Deep Space Nine or Star Trek: Voyager. Non-canonically, the was considered by some of the production staff as the replacement for the Oberth-class as research and science platform.(Star Trek: Starship Spotter, page 36) External links * - an in-depth article assessing the size inconsistencies of the various on-screen appearances of the Oberth-class starship * * cs:Třída Oberth de:Oberth-Klasse es:Clase Oberth ja:オーベルト級 nl:Oberth klasse Category:Federation starship classes